“It is with a feeling of great sorrow that I—and I am sure that I express the sentiments of all other senators—find myself compelled to part with the senator from Indiana. He has been the official leader of his party during four years, a position which has put him in the front of conflict. I can only say that he has borne himself with fairness, with courtesy, with unvarying good temper to those opposed to him, and, Mr. President, wholly apart from that, I am sure that the feeling I am about to express is shared by all. We are losing a friend. He has been to me not only a very valued friend, but a very good friend, and it is sad for me to think that he is about to withdraw from the interests and activities we have so long shared together. His kindness, his good temper, and the generosity he has just shown in his cordial words with regard to his successor have endeared him to us all. It is hard to say ‘good bye,’ and I will not say it, but I will say that he goes back to private life carrying with him the affectionate regard of all those who have been associated with him here, quite as much of those who sit on this side of the aisle as of those who sit on the other side. He carries with him every good wish that we can give for his health, his happiness, and his peace of mind in the years to come.”
As soon as Senator Lodge resumed his seat Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia, secretary of the interior during the second Cleveland administration, rose on the Democratic side of the chamber.
“Mr. President,” he said, “it is not necessary for Democratic senators to tell Senator Kern, the senate and the country how much we esteem him and how much we will miss him.
“Just two years after he came here he was elected by his Democratic associates their leader. Two years later he was again unanimously elected their leader.
“He has with great ability, with marked tact, with perfect fairness, and with uniform courtesy, served them as their leader and served with his associates as senator.
“We all honor him; yes, and he will always have our warmest love.”
Meanwhile Senator James E. Watson, the Republican senator from Indiana, who was out of the chamber at the time Senator Kern made his remarks, was notified by one of his colleagues and returned immediately to the chamber and, upon being recognized, spoke on behalf of the citizenship of Indiana, regardless of party affiliations. He said:
“Mr. President, I was out of the chamber when the news was brought to me that my distinguished colleague had uttered an address of farewell to the members of this body, with which he has been so long associated, and I felt that I could not let the opportunity pass without paying my tribute of respect to him as a man and as a citizen and as a neighbor.
“It is indeed a characteristic of the American people, and a most fortunate one, that in the midst of a great emergency like that which confronts us at this time, and an agitation almost international that seems to be centered here for the moment, we can even temporarily lay it aside to pay a tribute of respect to one who is about to depart from our midst. This shows, Mr. President, that after all, behind all political divisions, we are one in sentiment and one in aspirations, and one in patriotic purpose.